


coup de foudre

by junkeigo



Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Hopeful Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Nobody is Dead, Post-High School, Reunions, Romance, Side!Tsurukima, Teen Romance, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junkeigo/pseuds/junkeigo
Summary: This was his movie, and they’re now in the chapter where he has absolutely fallen in love with Sukai.
Relationships: Kinjo Sukai/Ohira Shosei
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	coup de foudre

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [（授权翻译）一见钟情](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27005068) by [miowhysoserious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miowhysoserious/pseuds/miowhysoserious)



Sukai was the last person Shosei least expected to see that night. 

Both of them were not the type to attend mass gatherings, much less school reunions, so imagine the blond haired male’s surprise. 

But then again, there he was, clad in a simple black polo shirt and jeans that fit his long legs just fine. Shosei takes in all of him from afar, trying to match in his head the lanky, quiet boy he used to know from high school. Sukai had obviously grown up from his awkward frame then, and he’s now this striking lean adult that Shosei can’t stop sneaking glances at. 

He feels stupid. 

So dumb and stupid to think that he’s over it. 

Sukai’s talking with some of their classmates, and so was Shosei but he doesn’t know if the black haired male has ever noticed his presence there. He doesn’t blame Sukai. He hasn’t given him a particularly fond memory of high school as far as he remembers. 

The reunion is in some hotel one of their classmates booked, and Shosei only went due to Syoya’s insistence of going with him and Shion. The blond haired male could never say no, it’s a habit he’s always had—and so he finds himself that day dressed up in the fit that the raven haired male personally chose for him and tagging along with the couple in the backseat of Shion’s car. 

He thought it was going to be a peaceful night for him, probably have a drink here and there and reminisce and catch up with some of their old classmates from back then but ever since Sukai had appeared, Shosei felt as if his mind had hyper fixated itself on only one thing and he can’t function for anything else. 

“Did you know he was coming?” Shosei asks Syoya when he finds him trying to order drinks over the bar, and Syoya shoots him an apologetic look. 

“A little bird may or may not have told me _he_ was coming over—but! I only knew about it when we were in the car already I swear—” Syoya tries to patch up and Shosei pouts lightly. He can never really get mad at Syoya. 

“If I would have known I wouldn’t have come…” he says as he snatches the newly placed drink on the countertop and downs it in one shot.

“Why wouldn’t you have? You’re also part of this class too?” Syoya asks, taking his own shot as well. “Just because he’s here doesn’t mean you don’t have to? I really don’t understand what was up with you two...” 

“It’s difficult for both of us.” the bitter taste in his mouth lingers as he adds, and Syoya shrugs at him. 

“Well then—will you be okay? Do you want us to leave now? We can just chill at my place and order pizza or something—” Syoya offers, and Shosei thinks he’s an angel, that best friend of his, when he suddenly sees the raven haired male’s expression change as fast as he talked. 

Shosei turns to look around and gets surprised with Sukai in full view, just a few feet apart from him. He looks even much better now up close, his skin clear that it’s practically almost shining, and Shosei has to tilt his head a bit to look up at him. 

He meets Sukai’s eyes, unintentionally, and something leaps up at Shosei’s chest. 

“Nice to see you again!” Syoya practically almost yells to break the tangible tension, and Sukai seems to snap out of his reverie and focuses his attention on the latter instead. 

“Nice to see you again, Syoya. It’s been a while.” Sukai nods to the raven haired male, and Shosei’s about to make some snide remark as he rolls his eyes but then Sukai looks a little down at him, head tilted in an angle that tells Shosei all his attention is on him now.

“You too Shosei. It’s been a long while.” 

The name rolls off the taller male’s tongue like a quick spell, and Shosei instantly knows he’s been hit. 

* * *

Shosei loved romantic movies. 

It didn’t matter if it was in Japanese, or any other language. Love is something that was felt more than said, and through movies the young male was able to see many forms of it. 

He has watched so many that he has probably seen everything, even those from countries he hasn’t even been to. It was a fun thing, to immerse himself in that film and think as if he was one of the characters or he was somebody living in that universe—with his own plot and designated male lead that will sweep him off his feet and live with him for the rest of his days, or at least until the end of the story. 

It was something he was hopeful for, to have a life just like a story on the big screen, and he had never lost hope on it.

That’s why when he graduated from elementary and entered high school he knew in his heart that this would probably be it, the year where he would finally get to feel as if his life had movie soundtracks as the background and the sceneries he walked by everyday would be landscape shots in his own romance movie. 

In his class, he gets to know Kimata Syoya first. 

It wasn’t anything special, the raven haired male approached him first and through similar interests they clicked, ended up becoming friends and teamed up with each other always for assignments and projects. Even though Syoya wasn’t originally from their region (their family moved from Aichi), he was fun to be around with, and he was the type to get along well with everyone. They used to go home together, stopping by to play UFO catcher games in the arcade where Syoya is good at. Most of Shosei’s plushies at home were stuff Syoya won for him, because Syoya was more interested in playing the actual game itself rather than the prize. He was older than him by a few days and a little bit slightly weird, and that’s what Shosei liked about him. 

And then there was Kinjo Sukai who was their classmate, but he was the most quiet one in the class. 

Nobody knew why he never really talked nor made friends, he just did. 

He was generally nice and didn’t cause any trouble or hurt anyone so a group of friends here and there would adopt him from class projects, but to Shosei’s eyes he never seemed to have a specific set he belonged to. Shosei noticed he always went home alone then, and didn’t eat lunch with anyone. 

Shosei had never talked to him during the first few semesters, because Shosei wasn’t also the type to start conversations with people and there was nothing that they could talk about. Shosei sat in the middle row always, and he noticed Sukai would sit either in the very back or very front. It would have been weird if he just randomly came up to him, especially if the person didn’t seem to be keen to talk with other people. 

With school work piling up on their plate, it was easier to forget about other things frequently then. Playing games, going out and thinking about non-important things have been put low on the priority list, and because Shosei didn’t want to disappoint his mother with bad grades he set his eyes on studying diligently instead.

* * *

Tsurubo Shion transferred to their school a little bit later, and Shosei could practically see the honey drip out of Syoya’s eyes when he first saw the boy. Shosei knows exactly what it meant, and the raven haired male didn’t even have to say anything. 

Syoya, with all his charm and whatever he did to Shion, had managed to befriend the new transferee and from the two of them—they were suddenly 3. Shosei didn’t really mind, because he can see how it makes Syoya happy when all of them hang out together. Shion was the youngest among them, being born in the last month of the year and all, so he had the tendency to be annoying sometimes and rebellious but he was also thoughtful and considerate—and Shosei commends him for that among many things. 

If there was anyone he probably had to be indebted to, it would probably be also Shion, because he was the one that first got close to Sukai that made him join their circle of friends. 

Shosei doesn’t know the specifics of how and why, but one day they all went to class and Shion and Sukai are friends—as if it had always been like that since the beginning.

The afternoons he usually spent with Syoya back then were suddenly ones he now spent with Sukai and Shion as well, then hanging out in the arcade and eating in a convenience store when they have short time to spare from studies. 

Shosei’s first initial realization about Sukai was that he was a funny person. 

The tall lanky teenager often made deadpan jokes without even trying, and it would always make him laugh to the point that he shed tears. Shosei liked watching Sukai jokingly bully Syoya around, and back then they used to team up against him—leaving no choice but to ask for help from Shion to defend him. Shion would then come to _rescue_ Syoya, and fight both of them in his stead. It was their own inside joke, him and Sukai coming up with ways to tease Syoya, and it was a common ground for them to keep on talking ever since then. 

Shortly after that came Shosei’s second realization about Sukai—and it was that he was good with words. 

Whether it was written or spoken, Sukai had his way with words. He made the simplest sentences sound like glittering decorations and works of art that should be hung on the walls. Even when he was just exchanging text messages about assignments with Shosei, or asking about the weather—the older one between them felt as if he was hearing poetry. 

He enjoyed it the most when they ended up being grouped together for their speech class, because Syoya (who used to be his go-to-partner) would pair himself together with Shion as fast as the speed of light, and it leaves him to be with Sukai to which the younger didn’t mind. Their speech class would mostly have them listen to something to English, and then say it back loudly. Shosei loved hearing the way the random English words rolled off of Sukai’s tongue, as if it was dripping ice cream. Sweet, a little bit cold but melted off to perfect consistency that made it the best to swallow. Shosei would tend to zone out watching and listening to Sukai and the younger would always have to snap in front of him to bring him back to Earth. 

Shosei would always say it was because he’s sleepy, and Sukai nodded and laughed as he teased him about being a sleepyhead. 

* * *

“How have you been?” Sukai asks him, and at first Shosei thought he couldn’t hear him properly from the chattering their other classmates are doing from the distance. Syoya had escaped rather quickly, pretending he saw Shion calling him from the distance—so that left him alone with Sukai. 

Sukai asks again after he doesn’t answer the first one. 

Shosei doesn’t know how to feel. He’s both happy to see him again after such a long time, but there were so many things going in his head that he couldn’t shake away either, and it pissed him off. 

“You don’t have to act like that, Syoya isn’t looking anymore.” he says rather bitterly, the anger winning over his other emotions. 

Sukai’s forehead crumples like paper, the way it does when he’s confused. Shosei could still remember that, it was one of the things he liked about him. 

“Shosei.” Sukai is stern, and the blond haired male is surprised at how he sounds now. It was different from the way he used to call his name then, and the older understands. Not everything is the same anymore anyway. “Can we talk, just the two of us?” 

“Do I have to?”

Sukai sighs exasperatedly, and he keeps his straight face directed at him. 

“Are you going to be like this to me all night?” he asks, tone barely almost matching the one he had prior, and Shosei narrows his eyes at him.

“What’s a night compared to years of ignoring me?” he’s quick to retort, and Sukai immediately freezes upon hearing his words. It wasn’t an argument, but Shosei knew he had already won. 

“Just tonight. Just a couple of hours, hell it could as well be just 5 minutes of your time. If you don’t want to see me ever again, I’ll disappear.” Sukai practically begs, and Shosei wants to laugh at how outrageous he sounded. 

“Who said I never wanted to see you ever again?” Shosei is completely winded up now. “You don’t get it do you?” 

* * *

Shosei knows the exact moment, the specific timestamp in which he knows that his feelings for Sukai were more than just friends. 

In the course of all four of them being friends, Syoya and Shion had begun dating. 

It wasn’t something that surprised any of them at all, as it was something that was long coming. Nothing much has changed from all of them being friends, aside from the fact that the lovebirds have times they would rather spend now alone with each other and not with Shosei and Sukai there, so it leaves the two of them together. 

They didn’t ask each other formally, but at some point they ended up walking from the school to the station, taking the same train together everyday as a mutual agreement. No words were needed to be said, when Sukai began putting his things in his bag Shosei would do the same, and they would walk side by side talking about that day’s lessons and assignments that they have—and whether Sukai would let Shosei copy off of him or what not. 

Sometimes they just walk side by side wordlessly, and Shosei doesn’t mind. The silence was never awkward with them. 

One day, they were all beat up with gym class and Sukai had been whining about how tired he is, as they walked to the station in their gym clothes—too tired to even change back to their uniform. Shosei contemplates buying something for Sukai, maybe a drink or something but Sukai waves him off, saying it’s fine and that he’s just going to nap it out at home. They sit beside each other in the train, finding a seat near the doors just to be sure. Sukai plops almost immediately to the seat, thankful and Shosei laughs beside him lightly. 

The sun is almost about to set then, and Shosei could see the way the rays of pastel colored light filter in through the train windows. It’s pretty, calming to the mind, and as he’s about to point it out to Sukai he finds the black haired male leaning his head towards him, immediately asleep under such condition. 

Shosei’s third realization about Sukai then was that he looked like a dream—with the pinks and oranges of the sunset falling down on them inside the train and Sukai is routinely breathing, his chest rising and falling as if there was a song he was breathing to. It was such a picturesque moment—that then and there came the fourth realization that Shosei liked Sukai, all of him from the way he speaks, to the way he treats people and younger kids with kindness and all the other attributes that Shosei had seen in him, as well as even the way Sukai called his name. 

This was his movie, and they’re now in the chapter where he has absolutely fallen in love with Sukai. 

* * *

Shosei’s first instinct was to tell Syoya, because if there was anything else that understood it probably, it would be him definitely. Syoya supports him, and thinks they’re on the same page. Syoya even teased him about it, and instead of getting mad he ended up thinking about the scenarios Syoya said and it made him feel optimistic about it—hopeful about a future with him and Sukai. 

He could already imagine them together, probably going to the same college despite having different courses and they would dorm together with Shion and Syoya. They’d have dates in coffee shops, movies or maybe even go to Disneyland. Just as long as he’s with Sukai, it was fine with him. 

Ever since then, he felt excited going to school. He was energized by the mere thought of getting to spend time with Sukai in class, and walk their way to the station with him. Every moment he spent with Sukai was engraved in his mind, despite them doing the same thing over and over everyday. But every day that passed had them looking forward to their graduation, and Shosei felt the dilemma at hand creep at him every time he looked at Sukai beside him.

There’s so much to lose, should he confess and it turns out that Sukai didn’t feel the same way towards him. Yet at the same time, there was so much to gain, and his anxiety will be relieved off of him. 

In the end, it wasn’t his to decide as the events unraveled in front of him, the control slipping out of his fingertips. 

It was simple teasing, and the class all got together in pushing Shosei and Sukai together. Shosei could never forget Shion joining in on the fun, because it’s just such a Shion thing to do.

The words came out of him before he could help himself, telling Sukai in front of everyone that he likes him—and not as a joke. Shosei remembers Sukai’s unreadable face, and it made him even more nervous. 

Sukai didn’t talk to him for the rest of the day, and Shosei just wanted to get over with it and go home. It was already too much that Sukai didn’t say anything, and he just wanted to go home and crawl under his blankets and disappear for a while. 

Shion buys him pudding, which was out of character for him so he was probably coerced by Syoya to do it. He just stares at the cup, not particularly having the appetite to eat anything. He just wants Sukai to talk to him, and set it straight. 

“At least he didn’t laugh in your face?” Syoya says to him as they sit in one of the gazebos in the school. Shion hits him in the arm and Syoya mouths an audible cry of pain. “Sorry. I’m so sorry Shosei.”

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have just said anything at all.” he says, trying his best to modulate his voice so he doesn’t end up crying. 

Shion ends up eating the pudding he bought for Shosei then, and Sukai joins the three of them on their way back to the station. 

Syoya pulls Shion along, saying random things as they walk significantly faster than the two of them. It leaves them together, with their walking pace excruciatingly slow. Nobody wants to start speaking, and yet there were so many things needed to be said. 

“I meant what I said, earlier.” He eventually starts, upon realizing it would never come from Sukai. 

“I know. I’m sorry.” Sukai can’t even meet his eye even if he tried. “I didn’t know what to say.” 

“You didn’t have to say anything. I just wanted to let you know that I love you.” 

“That’s why I’m sorry—I—I’m not ready yet, Shosei. I couldn’t say anything because I don’t know what to do, this is something very foreign to me.” 

“I’ll wait. I’ll wait when you’re ready.” he says it as soon as Sukai stopped talking, and Sukai shakes his head at him.

“No, I don’t want you to wait for me—You don’t deserve that. I’m really, really sorry.” Sukai apologizes again and Shosei isn’t dumb enough to overlook the fact that Sukai is trying his best rejecting him in the lightest way possible. 

“Can I still keep on waiting, just in case you change your mind?” he says, trying not to choke on his words. He’s not going to cry in front of Sukai, that would have been embarrassing. “Until graduation. Only until then.” 

“Okay. Until then.” 

* * *

Sukai cuts off all contact with him after graduation. 

Shosei moved to the US to study, and the last thing he heard from Syoya was that Sukai was taking up aviation in the same school that Syoya is attending. 

He knows Syoya and Shion still hang out with Sukai, they were friends after all. He doesn’t hate them for it, but it was Sukai he harbored feelings against for pretending he doesn’t exist. 

He pretends he doesn’t care when Syoya talks about Sukai reacting when he mentions him in conversation, pretends he doesn’t hear any of it. If Sukai had wanted to deliberately cut him out of his life, then Shosei should, shouldn’t he? 

Shosei ended up dating here and there, but they were guys that didn’t really stick around too much. They break up with Shosei, or he does before they can even move past the 5 month mark. It doesn’t feel right, and it’s not working as much as he wanted it to—so he would rather end it quickly before it gets messy. 

Syoya tells him he has commitment issues dating guys that looked vaguely similar to Sukai, but he would always wave it off and say it’s not that. 

* * *

“Just give me this entire night. Until sunrise tomorrow. Only until then.” Sukai asks of him, a simple request that tugs at Shosei’s heartstrings back and forth. 

By logic, he shouldn’t even be considering spending the night with Sukai—he was the one who threw him away first like he was nothing, and if he had any sense of self respect he would drag Syoya and Shion away to just watch a movie and be away from Sukai’s sight. 

But it was Sukai, and Shosei can’t ever say no. 

“I just want to set things straight again. Please.” Sukai begs again, and Shosei wants to get mad at himself because all he wants is to say no, Sukai doesn’t deserve that, but his heart wants to hear—to relieve itself and let the scars hardened by time heal. 

He ends up walking with Sukai, as it feels appropriate to do so. The last time they talked like this, they were walking as well. They passed by Syoya earlier that shot an inquisitive eyebrow at them before leaving—but Shosei’s focus was on his heart, on how he’s going to be saying all the shit he’s kept down ever since they graduated. 

They stop on a street light, and Shosei can feel all the years of pent up frustration struggling to keep himself down. 

“I didn’t know how to go back to the way we were, and I wish I did things differently—I do Shosei, I really do. I would have gone back in time to change all of that if it was only possible.” Sukai sounds as if he’s grasping at straws. Shosei is looking at him, but Sukai can’t meet his eyes. 

“You ignored me for years, Sukai.” he says, resigned. 

“—and I regret that so much. I was being stupid, trying to run away. I didn’t know how to handle it then, and I wish I could have handled it in a different way.” Sukai shakes his head, and they stay silent even as they cross the road to the other side. They’re aimlessly walking in the city, with the people here and there passing by them unknowing of their history, of the purpose of that walk. 

Shosei tries to think. He was so sure that he was mad earlier, that he wanted to curse at Sukai and maybe even hit him—but as they walked more his feelings diffused like wet firecrackers. He can smell Sukai’s perfume from where he is, and his scent hasn’t changed. Shosei remembers it, because it was the one they gifted him for his birthday years ago. 

He wants to ask so many questions, but he ends up walking in silence beside Sukai. 

“Say something, anything. God, you can even curse at me. Talk to me, Shosei.” Sukai says, the wind blowing past them rather strongly as they walked in the bright lighted city. 

“I hated myself, a lot. I hated you too, so much. I kept on thinking of what if—what if I just kept it all in and never told you? We would have still been friends. I probably would have stayed back in Tokyo, and we probably went to the same uni and spent our time together always and I would have been able to love you in silence instead. I don’t know if I would have liked it, but it was better than—” He takes a deep inhale as he waves his hands in between the two of them, and he could feel Sukai’s arm brush against his. “What if this, what if that. Thinking was the only thing I could do. I couldn’t contact you, and when you began hanging out with Syoya again I was too mad at you to even want to connect ever again.” Shosei says, kicking the concrete lightly with his feet as he walked. 

“I’d hate me too if I was you, not going to lie.” Sukai laughs lightly, and it’s still the best sound Shosei has ever heard. 

They end up walking towards an urban park. There’s lights spilling from the post just enough for them to see the path, and there’s people here and there, but it was enough to give them privacy on their own. 

“I still hate you, right now.” Shosei says as they walk past the gates. 

“I know, I understand as much. It wasn’t just something that happened overnight, so I know I’m not going to be forgiven anytime soon.” 

“I hate you because I know I can’t hate you solely for the fact that you didn’t like me back then. It’s not your fault for not reciprocating the same feelings.” 

“It’s not that I didn’t like you, you’re a good person Shosei. Even then and now. It was all me, I got scared about the fact that someone liked me and I was too young to grasp the concept of it all.” Sukai shakes his head. “It was cowardly, I know—and if I could go back in time I’d say we could try it out. It would have been different.” 

Shosei hums, settling to sit down on one of the benches. 

He doesn’t know if he should trust him, or believe everything he said, but then again it was Sukai—and for all its worth he wasn’t a liar. 

“Have you ever had a girlfriend? Boyfriend?” Shosei asks him suddenly, and Sukai shrugs. 

“Not really.” Sukai admits rather embarrassed, and Shosei shoots him a look. 

“Don’t lie to me.” he nudges him. 

“But I’m saying the truth? They didn’t get my humor like y—” Sukai cuts himself before finishing his sentence, and Shosei coughs. 

“You don’t have to forgive me right now, by the way. Or tonight. Or for the next few days actually.” Sukai says, sitting beside him. “I asked Syoya if you were coming tonight because I wanted to see you, I wanted to do what I should have done years ago before I leave.” 

“Where are you going?” 

“I’m starting my pilot training program by Monday, so I’ll be preoccupied by that and moving around. It’s going to be hard to reach me for a while.” Sukai leans back on the bench, before looking at Shosei. “I wanted to meet you at least tonight because I wanted to say I’m sorry, Sei. All those years I’ve thought about you, and every time I wanted to come and say sorry but I was afraid. All the things Syoya told me aren’t encouraging at all too, and he said you hated me that you always shut him out when he talked about me. It’s fine, I totally understand that, but now that we’re older—” 

Sukai scoots a little bit towards Shosei, and locks eyes with him. 

“—If I ran away every time because I was scared, then I would be doing the same for the rest of my life and I’ll never be able to be with you again. So, even if you don’t like me anymore that way, it’s fine, we can be friends again. I just want my Shosei back.” 

Shosei can feel his cheeks heat up and hopes that the lights in the park are dim enough for Sukai to not see his reddening ears and cheeks. His heart is beating tenfold, and it’s been so long—he forgot how it was like, the feeling Sukai gave him. The adrenaline rush, the feeling of being able to do anything and achieve all heights as long as Sukai is there. 

He stays silent, too stunned to properly come up with words to say and Sukai nods in resignation as he moves back and stands up. 

“Sukai.” Shosei calls out before he can even take the first step, and Sukai looks back at him as he hums. 

Shosei stands up and wraps his arms around the now taller male, and Sukai raises his arms to envelop him in the hug. Shosei could smell the perfume strongly this time off of Sukai’s chest, and he felt warm against him. Sukai buried his face in Shosei’s hair and the blond haired male had never felt more at peace. 

Before everything else, he was a friend that he liked, and then more. 

“Even if I wanted to hate you for years and years, I don’t think I can do it, and I’ll always end up forgiving you.” Shosei says through the hug, his face still pressed against Sukai’s chest. 

“Why’s that?” Sukai asks, leaning a little bit back so he can lift Shosei’s chin to meet his eyes. 

Shosei gets immediately stunned with the visual, and he knows the exact thing to answer the question.

“Because it’s you, Sukai.” 

* * *

In the post credits of Shosei’s life as a romance movie, just a little shortly after all the names have rolled in, there’s a shot of him inside an airplane. He’s there as a passenger, and he’s going on a short trip. Just a couple of days in Europe, spending time there to destress from work. 

“Hello, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard. We are presently flying at thirty-nine thousand feet on our flight from Tokyo to London with 1 stop. We are expecting a smooth flight and anticipate an on-time arrival in London at 12:05 PM GMT. We hope you enjoy your flight.” the all too familiar voice says, and Shosei smiles to himself rather proudly for getting such a cool boyfriend. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think in the comments and twitter @ for__jo1


End file.
